TALES OF THE SEA.

Opunake Times, Volume LVV, Issue 3675, 23 October 1923, Page 2

TALES OF THE SEA.

The stories told of the wreck of the Trevassa and the foundering of the Sumatra brings into bold relief the perils which beset men “who go down into the sea in ships.“ The pluck and daring of the Trevessa crew in their two open boats is equal to the very best traditions of British seamanship. These boats abandoned their ill-fated vessel in a dark and stormy night with savage seas threatening every moment to engulf them. For five days and nights the

storm continued, a;.d for all that lime these plucky men fought for their lives with marvellous determination. When the storm abated they were 1500 miles from the nearest land, short of provisions, short even of water, and with only frail boats between them and destruction. The hardships they endured, the plucky way they fought for their lives is grand reading for those who admire great and brave deeds by the children of men. While the fight of the Trevessa crew is the he : ght of heroism, the tragedy of the fate of the crew of the Sumatra is all the more shocking. No one knows what happened. No one is left to tell the tale. The little vessel seems to have simply foundered with all hands in the tremendous gale. We can believe that the men met their fate with equal heroism, but the fact that they had never a chance for their lives makes the event a tragedy indeed.